Some Thoughts on Fan Culture

by syaffolee

From the recent discussions on fans and fandom I’ve read going around the internet, I’ve been thinking about the topic and how I am a fan (or not) of things I like. I’ve come to the conclusion that being a fan means you like “X”, whatever that is. If you want to call yourself a fan, go knock yourself out. No one has the authority to bestow the title “fan” to anyone. Gatekeeping is for obnoxious clique defenders. Being a fan is NOT the same as getting a Ph.D. Fans don’t need to buy all the merchandise, read or watch all the “classics” (whatever the hell that is), ace a qualifying exam stuffed with trivia like a Jeopardy pro, and/or write several theses worth of fan fiction. What separates the fan from the normal person who likes “X” is degree of obsession. I admit, it’s a blurry line. For instance, I would consider myself someone who simply likes and enjoys “X” if I interact with it because someone’s put it there in front of me or I came across it by accident. Otherwise, I don’t think about “X” much. I am a fan, however, if I go out of my way to engage with “X” even after initial exposure.

What gets confusing is the terms “fan” and “fandom.” They’re not the same thing. You can be a fan and still not be in fandom. But all people in fandom are fans. In other words, fandom is a subset of all fans. When people start yelling at each other about who is a “true fan,” it’s usually because someone’s thinking that “fan” is an exact synonym for the word “fandom.” It’s no longer about liking (or even obsessing) about something but passing all these particular checkpoints (whether or not it’s even relevant to “X”) in order to get into a particular clique labeled as “fandom.”

I think of fandom as a community of fans who are governed by rules, explicit or implicit, which dictate how they behave towards one another and how one must engage with the topic of interest. Depending on the fandom or clique, these rules can be flexible and inclusive or rigid and exclusionary. People are social animals so, of course, they want to join the group which likes the thing that they like. Unfortunately, if you don’t follow the conventions of the fandom in a way that it likes or accepts, you are persona non grata. In any case, there will always be fans because people will always like stuff. The existence of fans is independent of social behavior. But fandoms will rise and fall depending on outside factors like politics, social change, fashion, style, and technology.

As for me, well, I’m a fan of some things. But I don’t consider myself part of fandom. It’s not because I think fandom is inherently bad (or good). Whatever that I am a fan of may have changed me, but I’ve never interacted with any fandom in such a way that fandom itself has significantly influenced the course of my life. Simply put: I like what I like. I’m happy to talk to other people about it, but being a fan is a personal thing that has nothing to do with what other people like or how they think one should engage with it.

(As an aside: This naturally leads into the topic of “fans” and “professionals.” While fandom is a subset of fans, there can only be an intersection of professionals and fans. Certainly, professionals can be fans but they have strict rules for behavior. In fact, they are even more strict than those implicit/explicit rules in “fandom” because money and ethics are involved. I feel that if you are both a pro and a fan, the behavioral rules for being a pro trump those of being a fan.)

I’ve been thinking about whether or not I’m in the NaNoWriMo fandom because I’m pretty heavily involved in it, but I decided that I’m close but I haven’t quite fallen in yet. I have no inclination to write fanfic about NaNo as others certainly have. Besides, I did write a novel before I ever encountered NaNo (technically, even before it began) and I’d like to think I would still be interacting with other writers even if NaNo had never existed.

I enjoyed reading your blog. I, too, have been following these issues from a more feminist perspective, as through my life I have witnessed women like me struggling to be accepted as we join in fan activities starting with comics, then gaming, then conventions. After ten years as a professional writer, I still receive slighting remarks such as “I can tell a woman wrote this book.” I’m sure black and other minority fans can relate similar experiences of being ignored, insulted or outright confronted about trying to just be fans.

These days I attend conventions much more as a pro than a fan, and I would say the difference is that we know we’re in the spotlight. We have books to sell and we want to present an appealing persona in hopes of attracting readers. So we want to be approachable in the halls and say cogent things on panels and hold interesting conversations in room parties.

And yet… I still read comics, and I still role-play and wear costumes. Guess you can’t take the fan completely out of the pro!

With writers, especially, pros would have to be fans. Otherwise they wouldn’t have the passion to write what they write. It’s not exactly the same with other forms of media. The actor who plays a superhero in a movie doesn’t have to be a fan of the superhero character or even comics. He’s just doing his job.

And I hear you about the comments about women writing books. Very frustrating!

I want to know the gender of the author of anything I am reading. I have no idea why, it’s like a compulsion. Lately I seem to be reading stuff written by women, there seem to be few male authors that interest me. I am fairly persnickety, out of a couple of dozen books that I pick up that look like they might be interesting I will only finish one.

There’s nothing inherently wrong in wanting to know the gender of the writer. But it becomes really problematic when someone uses gender, race, etc. as an excuse to label their writing as less worthy of notice and quality. The only time that I really pay attention to the identity of the author is when I’m reading non-fiction. I want to know if the author has the qualifications to talk about the subject they’re writing about.